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Coming back to Boston was a mistake, but I was already here, and I couldn’t just let her freeze to death in the ocean alone.
The water bit into my skin, every bit as cold as I’d expected. I reached for the heavenly fire in my veins, letting it burn hot enough to chase away the chill, and then dove under the surface.
I popped up beside Piper. “You think I’m boring?”
Her smile lit up her whole face. “Decidedly less than I thought a few minutes ago.”
Up close, she looked even more delicious. I shouldn’t have kissed her last weekend. Hell, I shouldn’t have kissed her eight years ago. But I did, and now that I’d had that taste, I wanted more. It didn’t help that she had that look in her eyes, thatwantingmixed with something more. That look begged for me to fuck her. But that wasn’t happening. No pussy was worthfallingfor.
But I couldn’t leave her out here. Even if she had drivers she could call, it would take them time to get here, and the sun was already nearly gone, lights shining from the skyscrapers and other buildings along the cove’s edge.
There was no way to stay away from Piper Amato. It was a losing game. But I could keep my hands off her.
I leaned forward and brushed my lips over her cheek, tasting salt and the sweeter flavor of her skin under that. I felt like the vampire in those books Daphne read when she was a teenager, the one who was trying to date a human without giving in to bloodlust and killing her.
Enjoy it, because this is as good as you’re ever going to get.
I pulled back and forced my lips into a smirk, something I felt like I’d been doing an awful lot lately. “Enjoy your swim, Siren.” This time I was going to be the one walking away. Not to win at whatever twisted game Piper and I were playing but because I needed to prove to myself that I could walk away from her soul.
“Sam.” Piper’s voice was soft, and it stopped my feet in their tracks without my brain’s permission. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I bit out.
“Distracting me. Coming swimming. For everything, I guess.”
“Don’t thank me.”
“Because you’re the bad guy and want to ruin me?” she asked.
“Ruin both of us.”
I got my feet moving again. I could hear Piper behind me, but I didn’t slow down or look back. When I was on the beach again, I picked up my phone and texted Thomas to come pick us up.
Piper’s teeth were chattering by the time she made it to my side. She reached for her shirt, but I grabbed her wrist before she could get the top wet.
She inhaled sharply. “Are you okay? Your skin is burning hot.”
“You’re going to be glad for that in about thirty seconds.” I held my button-down open for her. It had longer sleeves than her shirt. Giving it to her had nothing to do with seeing her in my clothes.
She hesitated but then slipped her arms through the sleeves. “Thanks.”
I chuckled, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against my chest, enjoying the sound of her gasp. I was a living, breathing furnace. And I didn’t want to know what she’d be doing right now if I weren’t here.
I tightened my grip on her. Her fingers inched up my bare chest, over all the scars that she couldn’t see with her human eyesight, to the silver cross that hung around my neck.
“I guess this means you’re not a vampire,” she murmured.
“Please tell me that wasn’t actually a consideration.” I’d truly believed Piper was a generally intelligent woman. She didn’t strike me as the type to believe in myths and fairy tales.
I felt her shoulders attempt to lift in a shrug. “You have to be something. Even Tom Cruise can’t pull off your level of agelessness.”
“I can’t just be me?” I could just tell her—it wasn’t like I hadn’t told many humans over the years—but Piper was different. I had to play my cards carefully with her. Power came from knowledge. And Piper already had too much power over me.
“It doesn’t make sense. You’re impossible.”
“And it really drives you crazy to not have all the answers, doesn’t it?”
She nodded.
